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Disney World & Epcot's Spaceship Earth to Become the Death Star

Four years in, it's hard to imagine how nervous many fans were in 2012 when Disney announced they'd be purchasing Lucasfilm and taking over the production of a new series of Star Wars films. Since then, The Force Awakens has come and gone to rapturous approval. With Disney and Lucasfilm releasing a film each year, fans are now eagerly anticipating the continuation of the Skywalker family saga, as well as curious to see how the various anthology films pan out. The first of these side stories, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, will be upon up in just a few short weeks. Until then, fans of the galaxy far, far away are ravenoulsy consuming all the books, comics, and games set in the Star Wars universe, along with the ongoing Star Wars Rebels animated TV series.

One more upcoming piece of the intergalactic puzzle is the opening of two Star Wars-themed experiences at Disney parks in Florida and California. Ground has already broken on both, and we've been treated to a few pieces of concept art. Hopefully, we won't have to wait long for the rides to open, so that we can immerse ourselves in the world of Star Wars like we've been able to do at the Harry Potter park, also in Orlando.

Though an opening dates for the parks are still underdetermined, Disney has decided to give us a sneak peak at what a real life world of Star Wars will look like. Thanks to the official Disney Parks blog, we now know that for a special event Disney is holidng this Monday, December 5th, the company will be transfroming the iconic Spaceship Earth at Epcot into the planet-destroying Death Star. You can RSVP for the event over at the Disney Parks page.

By employing digital projection, the park will map the image of the world killer onto the giant golfball-shaped attraction. Whether the ride inside will be altered in any way is unknown, but it's unlikely unless they've secretly been at work for some time. The projection will probably serve primarily to excite fans about Rogue One and the eventual opening of the Star Wars theme parks proper. Hopefully, we'll have some photos and videos of the transformation following the event. If you live nearby, be sure to head out and see what's sure to be a special display.

Even though it's a small thing, it's still nice to get a taste of what the possibilities are now that Disney and Lucasfilm are working together so seamlessly. In fact, we predicted this very moment back in 2012 when the original news of the merger broke. While weighing the pros and cons of the deal, we theorized that Epcot's Spaceship Earth could be turned into a Death Star ride. Disney is unlikely to permanently transform their world-famous attraction (and signature piece of the park), however, but it's nice to see our nerdy prognostication come somewhat true after all this time.

Stay tuned for more news related to all things Star Wars, and let us know in the comments if you'll be attending the special Epcot event.